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Atlantean
Appearance Mechanical in appearance "clothing" is often built in as part of their body, and whilst additional clothing is not required to help maintain body temperature or preserve modesty Atlantians will often take to the idea as a form of social bonding and cohesion, often times preferring loose fitting flowing outfits and often using nautical paraphernalia such as seaweed, shells and netting for decoration. Examples of their style can be found here: https://www.pinterest.com.au/ARC_Inc/multiverse-atlantis/ History All air-breathing life died on Atlantis somewhere between two and ten thousand years ago. Only that which could survive entirely underwater in the saltwater oceans remained behind. It is thought to have been a technological marvel gone awry or some dread disease. Whatever the reason behind it, death drifts on the winds of Atlantis. A grey mist that tears apart carbon bonds but which reacts so poorly to the chemical composition of the sea that it is, in itself, destroyed. Nothing can step foot on the desolate rocky coastlines nor even lift a head or a flipper above the water line without injury. All trace of the original Atlanteans is gone but for a few hundred underwater facilities that were once the recreational centres, scientific research stations and military hubs of an ancient and highly advanced species. Atlantean settlements are typically built out of the ruins of old buildings, weaving nets of seaweed over the skeletal structures that have long since rusted away and been replaced by layers of shells from those first creatures that had spawned over them. Few of the original structures are still operational and those that are have been lovingly maintained by Atlanteans with the right expertise. Some of them still have power but most are mere hulks at the bottom of the ocean, filled with water, and yet still carefully tended as the last vestiges of a once thriving civilisation. The oceans themselves are still teeming with life but the life itself has changed. Increased carbon in the oceans has led to the waters changing from being mildly basic to mildly acidic, which has affected what can grow and thrive within the waters. Though there are no corals and no air-breathers like dolphins, there are still fish and plants, sharks and crustaceans and even some shell-based creatures that have found ways to cope with the acidity. Psychological Traits Atlanteans are incredibly inconsistent, in their own ways, but there is still a pattern to their behaviour. They are loyal, but expect to be allowed the freedom to roam under the expectation that they will one day return, and then to be welcomed back as though nothing has changed. They are immortal unless destroyed and yet they have limited memory available and so must frequently choose which memories to delete. They have personalities that can be affected by experiences and yet they can also edit their own memories to their heart’s content. Their days are also numbered. The bodies they inhabit were built thousands of years ago and it is testament to their creators that they were built to resist the ocean that strives to corrode them. Yet every so often, those bodies break down. Their minds fracture as memory is corrupted. Those who find them either put them out of their misery, care for them until their inevitable demise, or accept facets of their memories and personalities into their own minds -- merging them to become one. This is why few Atlanteans remember where they came from. Those who say they can remember, are nearly always wrong as errors, deletions, and memory insertions fill their memory banks. Simplicity, contemplation, flexibility and freedom are vital in a world beneath the waves. Rather than considering themselves a part of tribes or villages, they call their groupings “assemblies” which vary over time. Due to the small size of these assemblies, all important decisions are made by consensus, where possible, a vote if not. Despite the fact that most Atlantean bodies were never designed for romance or sex (many are in fact worker models or even undersea vessels), there are plenty of Atlanteans who strive for companionship with romantic and sexual needs and preferences evolving over time. They also create familial bonds and refer to each other as family -- using terms such as parent and child and sibling much as the organic do. Atlanteans do not fight each other. They don’t kill each other. They survive by drawing on the energy of thousands of power units that had been sunk into the ocean millennia ago for unknown reasons. There is no war for resources though, perhaps on occasion, there is theft of a body. The desire for cruelty has long been edited out of their programs through force or mutual agreement. In a world with so few of them, merely ten thousand or so, it is a terrible anguish when any die. Thus they don’t understand how the living can cope when one of their own die -- even if it is a hated enemy. For them it is always a horror,no matter how much they might despise the individual in question. Due to their world’s history, Atlanteans are often quite a bit nervous about the wind and are terrified of fog. They’re excited about mundane above ground features that still appear quite strange to them and are particularly amazed by mammals, birds and plants. 10 Cultural Cores # Souvenirs are glorious. # A confrontational Atlantean is a passive aggressive Atlantean. # Never say no. # Smile through anything. # Atlanteans avoid doing anything alone. # Their speech is abrupt with lots of gesturing. # Regifting is normal, even respected. # Avoid eye contact. # Scared of sudden loud noises. # Atlanteans are highly curious. Species Perks Synthetic: You are a synthetic life form who must recharge your power cells on a weekly basis. All of your limbs also count as base augmentations and as with all augmentations they can be stunned for 5 seconds by shock attacks. You’re also so heavy it takes 2 people to carry you. Repair Not Regeneration: You don’t heal naturally and must be repaired with scrap on a two health points per scrap basis. Engineers can spend one faith to heal two health points instead as they figure out the right way to repair them. No metabolism: You are are unaffected by poison, radiation, smoke, disease, drugs and medication. Rather than Sootherpsyck, Atlanteans with kinetic skills or core abilities must be repaired with electrical scrap every 30 minutes to avoid the symptoms of shorting out. Dead State is an Offline Mode: You don’t have a bleed count. When on dying you are simply badly damaged and can still struggle to speak. Normal slay won’t kill you -- just reduce you to a silent offline state. A coup de grace can still kill you. You can be brought back from the dying or dead state by an engineer repairing you with at least 1 piece of scrap -- returning you to walking wounded. Hackable: You may edit your memories and personality at a whim -- though these changes can be rolled back within the next week if you so choose. Thus it is possible, though exceedingly difficult, for a Programmer to forcibly change certain thought processes and behavioural habits. This should be done through negotiation between both players to ensure its a fun plot development. Rapid Hack can be used to put you in an offline state for 5 seconds. Common Phrases and Naming Conventions Names are usually polysyllabic consisting of short sharp syllables which emphasise vowels. This is because most Atlantian names are a mix of the names of their parts twisted and corrupted over time. A good way to find Atlantian names is to use the Khajiit name generator. The Language likewise tends to be made up of short sharp syllables and sayings and expressions possess a very nautical theme. • “Dia!” = Hello. • “Zen!” = Goodbye. • “Flembuta” = Traitor. • “Zanza!” = Thank You. • “Blended to fitz” = Someone who has merged so often they’re losing their minds. • “Bright fish” = Someone who likes to show off their skills in a good way • “Croaker” = Doomsayer, pessimist, i.e. old croaker. • “Cut a swell” = present a fine figure. • “Drowner” = Someone who pulls you down with them, someone who is trouble. • “Falldowner” = Someone who is losing control of their limbs due to shoddy self-maintenance. • “Flathead” = makes bad decisions. • “Glitchbait” = don’t take care of themselves. • “Mollusc” = layabout, useless person. • “Odd stick” = eccentric person, often affectionately said. • “Shell it” = worry about it later. • “Tidal” = strong and powerful moods (i.e. “They’re too tidal to think straight.”) Category:Species Category:Atlantian